Alice Taylor (writer)


Alice Taylor is an Irish best-selling writer and novelist particularly known for her nostalgia works looking back at life in a small village.

Life and career

Born 28 February 1938 on a farm in Lisdangan, Newmarket in North Cork. She was educated at Drishane Convent. Taylor worked in Bandon before marrying Gabriel Murphy. Her husband died in 2005. They have four sons and one daughter. When she married she moved to Innishannon in 1961. There she ran a guesthouse, the local post office and a shop.
In 1984 she edited and published a local magazine, Candlelight, and in 1986 she published an illustrated collection of her poetry. However it was her book To School Through the Fields, published in May 1988, which brought her fame. She had numerous interviews on national shows including RTÉ Radio's The Gay Byrne Show and The Late Late Show. The next books were equally successful and have been sold internationally. Since then she has moved onto novels which have also become best sellers.
Taylor has remained very connected to the village where she lives. One of the programs she has been involved in was the restoration of the old Innishannon Tower.

Memoir